| "Addicted to Love" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Picture sleeve for UK and European editions of the single (photographer,Peter Ashworth) | ||||
| Single byRobert Palmer | ||||
| from the albumRiptide | ||||
| B-side | "Remember to Remember" | |||
| Released | January 1986[1] | |||
| Genre | Rock[2][3] •dance-rock | |||
| Length |
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| Label | Island | |||
| Songwriter | Robert Palmer | |||
| Producer | Bernard Edwards | |||
| Robert Palmer singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Addicted to Love" onYouTube | ||||
"Addicted to Love" is a song by the English rock singerRobert Palmer released in 1986. It is the third song on Palmer's eighth studio albumRiptide (1985) and was released as its thirdsingle. The single version is a shorter edit of the full-length album version.
The song entered the USBillboard Hot 100 chart the week ending 8 February 1986. The song topped theBillboard Hot 100, as well as theBillboardTop Rock Tracks chart, and it received a gold certification for shipping half a million copies in the United States. It also reached number one in Australia and number five on theUK Singles Chart. "Addicted to Love" became Palmer'ssignature song, thanks in part to a popular video featuring high fashion models.[4]
Originally intended to be a duet withChaka Khan, the song was made without her because her record company at the time would not grant her a release to work on Palmer's label, Island Records. Chaka Khan is still credited for the vocal arrangements in the album liner notes.
Most guitar parts, including the solo, were played byEddie Martinez.[5]Andy Taylor ofDuran Duran (and a bandmate of Palmer's fromthe Power Station) added rhythm guitar. Keyboards were played byWally Badarou. As well as producing the song,Bernard Edwards played the bass.[6] The song's opening drum solo is byTony Thompson, another Power Station alumnus.
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Themusic video (which uses the shorter single version of this song), directed by English photographerTerence Donovan,[7] was one of the most noted of the era. The video features Palmer performing the song with an abstract "band", a group of female models whose pale skin, heavy makeup, dark hair, and seductive, rather mannequin-like expression follow the style of women inPatrick Nagel paintings.
The five models in the video are Julie Pankhurst (keyboard), Patty Kelly (guitar), Mak Gilchrist (bass guitar), Julia Bolino (guitar), and Kathy Davies (drums).[8]
Mak Gilchrist recalled toQ:
I was 21 and got the part on the strength of my modelling book. We were meant to look and "act" like showroom mannequins. Director Terence Donovan got us tipsy on a bottle of wine but as we were having our make-up retouched, I lost balance on my heels and knocked the top of my guitar into the back of Robert's head, and his face then hit the microphone.[9]
In a 2013 interview, when asked why she was designated the drummer and not given a close-up shot, Kathy Davies jokingly replied, "I guess the naughty ones always get sent to the back." Davies added that she did not mind it because she thought Palmer "had a good bum."[8]Palmer recycled the video's models concept for the videos of three other songs of his: "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" (also fromRiptide), "Simply Irresistible", and the animated "Change His Ways" (both fromHeavy Nova).
VH1'sPop-Up Video trivia about the video include the fact that a musician was hired to teach the models basic fingering techniques, but "gave up after about an hour and left." The episode also pointed out several choreographic errors, including the models moving out of sync with one another, and moving during points with no back beat, such as the second chorus.
The music video ranked at number 3 on VH1's Top 20 Videos of the 1980s and was the last video shown on long running UK music programmeThe Chart Show.
In the romantic comedy filmLove Actually (2003), written and directed byRichard Curtis, the video for Billy Mack's song, "Christmas Is All Around", is a tribute to "Addicted to Love".[10] The "Addicted to Love" models' blank expression is parodied in the "Christmas Is All Around" video, with the latter's models visibly bored to the point of yawning.
The models were also used in the spoof of the video in"Weird Al" Yankovic'sUHF wearing glasses and moustaches. The music video was parodied in the videos ofStardust's "Music Sounds Better with You,"Tone Lōc's "Wild Thing,"Mr Blobby's "Mr Blobby",Bowling for Soup's "1985,"Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!",Shakira's "Las de la Intuición",Kasey Chambers's "If I Were You",Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl",Die Prinzen's "Alles nur geklaut", andLuca Carboni's "Luca lo stesso".
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Addicted to Love" | Robert Palmer | 3:59 |
| 2. | "Let's Fall in Love Tonight" | Alan Thompson | 4:02 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Addicted to Love (12" version)" | Robert Palmer | 5:02 |
| 2. | "Remember to Remember" | Robert Palmer | 3:33 |
| 3. | "You Are in My System (remix)" | 6:05 |
|
Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[33] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[34] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
| "Addicted to Love (Live)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single byTina Turner | ||||
| from the albumTina Live in Europe | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | March 7, 1988[35] | |||
| Length | 5:10 (single mix) | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter | Robert Palmer | |||
| Producer | John Hudson | |||
| Tina Turner singles chronology | ||||
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American singerTina Turner made "Addicted to Love" a regular feature of her live shows from 1986, although her version did not make it onto the market until two years later.
A live recording from the 1986/1987Break Every Rule Tour of the track was included on herTina: Live in Europe album in 1988, and was also issued as thelead single to promote the album in certain territories (instead of "Nutbush City Limits") and was a Top 20 hit in the Netherlands.
The two singles had the same B-sides: live recordings of "Overnight Sensation" andZZ Top's "Legs" and near identical picture sleeves. The version of "Addicted to Love" issued on the single was in fact an alternate mix of the track; the single mix was later included on the European editions of her 1991 greatest hits albumSimply the Best, as well asAll the Best in 2004 andTina! in 2008. Another live version was included inTina Live in 2009.
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[36] | 23 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[37] | 19 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[38] | 28 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[39] | 71 |
The Video Models
